MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Starting later this month, a Total Force aeromedical evacuation team from Air Mobility Command, the Air National Guard and the Air Force Testing and Evaluation Center is scheduled to begin evaluating the medical capabilities of the KC-46A Pegasus at McConnell.
Currently, the 22nd Medical Group’s medical logistics facility is staging medical equipment from AMC’s evacuation operations and training facility. The goal is to see how the KC-46 improves the aeromedical evacuation mission set.
“[Aeromedical evacuation] is the capability of providing time-sensitive, mission-critical care between medical facilities in theater and CONUS to CONUS,” said Master Sgt. Jennifer DuBois, 22nd Medical Support Squadron superintendent.
Master Sgt. George Gonzalez, 22nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron superintendent, explained that the team will be evaluating the patient moving capabilities of the KC-46 and that they will be using the staged equipment to do so. The usability of medical equipment, numbers of patients and the amount of medical cargo will be some of the data gathered from the tests.
“[With the] KC-46, they’re working basically with a blank canvas right now, figuring out how to reconfigure the new airframe for AE” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez expects that the testing team will find that the KC-46, which has a larger cargo space than McConnell’s current KC-135 Stratotankers, will be able to facilitate and transport more patients.
DuBois said that the importance of aerospace medical evacuation, is having the capability to react quickly and provide medical care in critical situations.
DuBois contrasted that it took anywhere from 40 to 50 days to transport patients from the battlefield to a CONUS treatment facility during the Vietnam War. She said that, for example, when a critical injury occurs today in the Middle East, the patient can be evacuated to large medical care facility within hours.
During the flight, patients are also stabilized and continue to receive care. Critical care equipment is aboard the aircraft if needed and temporary litters can be rapidly added or removed to accommodate patient’s needs.
The findings during the test and evaluation phase will help provide a plan for the implementation of the KC-46 in aeromedical evacuation missions. McConnell currently provides support for this mission set with the KC-135, but with the addition of the new airframe, the installation will be able to increase their impact in medical and humanitarian missions.